labrigitte

Jorge Martinez, Les Violons d'Automne & Cesaria Evora

2008-10-03T17:04:00.002-04:00

Back in January 2008, I got a call from Flamenco virtuoso Jorge Martinez, asking me if I'd be into playing with him in September of 2008 at a violin festival in Saint-Jean-Port-Jolie. Of course was the answer, I learned the repertoire as quickly as time would allow (about 10 days prep time and two rehearsals w/Jorge, not the band), and Jorge & his ensemble picked me up on Sept. 17th and off we drove to the gig.

Saint-Jean-Port-Jolie is located about an hour 1/2 north east of Quebec City. It is right on the edge of the Saint-Laurent river and quite beautiful. The show went very well, and people went crazy. Before we started, the hall was already full and people had to stand in the back and the aisles. Jorge had suggested that I choose a song from my repertoir for JMZ to play, so I picked a serbian gypsy song "Ederlezi" to begin the second set. To my surprise, people recognized the song, screamed and got up to dance. For the remainder of the second set, the whole hall was up and dancing. yes..."it was a grrreeeeat success:! And on top of that, we shared some wonderful moments...

But talking about success, Jorge's team were so happy with the connection that we shared on stage, that a week after Les Violons d'Automne, they invited me to come and hang out back stage at Place des Arts' Salle Wilfred Pelletier and watch them open for Cesaria Evora. Here they are warming up during soundcheck:

Now this must have been the first time that I'd be at a show but not playing it. And what a wonder it was! First of, the food rider set up by Spectra was amazing. And as foolish of a girl as I am...having an undying love for food...I spent a good portion of the evening eating from the buffet. So much so that Spectra was not very impressed by my table manners and Jorge's manager, Joe, did hear about it. Besides that, let's focus on the music now. Jorge blew the crowd away. Many shows I have seen, and many shows I have contributed to getting people up on their feet and dancing like there was no tomorrow, but this one sent shivers up my spine. At the last song of the set, I got up from the soundman's booth and decided to walk up to the side of the stage...

I turned around to look at the concert hall instead of the artists on stage. It was amazing; the hall was sold out and everybody was up and clapping their hands to the beat. You have to understand that Place des Arts' salle Wilfred Pelletier hosts l'Opera de Montreal and the OSM and the audience that comes with season tickets. I would've never expected to see this demographic up and dancing. You can view it on MySpace TV on Jorge's site: www.myspace.com/jorgemartinezJMZ

The ice was broken, the crowd was sold and warmed up...ready to see Cesaria Evora come on stage next. Cesaria was amazing. The timber of her voice blew me away, Her stage presence was anti-presence. So casual and indifferent to her surroundings was her demeanor, for all one knows Cesaria could have been performing for 4 people at an intimate cafe. It was difficult to get back to reality and realize she was performing in front of thousands. I found her truly amazing...and besides seeing her pass by back stage, I didn't get to be closer to her than that. But her warm voice filled us all with a feeling of having spent a wonderful evening!

Summer 2008 (part III): BRIGA - a gentle beginning

2008-08-31T01:51:00.001-04:00

CUTV's "l'Obscure" has just uploaded on YouTube a 5 minute spotlight on BRIGA. Enjoy!

Summer 2008 (part II): oh Devla, where are you now?

2008-08-24T16:35:00.005-04:00

So I've spent my days hanging out at Laurier pool, then going home and trying to practice & compose, and then finishing off with more swimming at the McGill pool. I'm enjoying it, and that's the closest I'm going to get to a vacation in the countryside; my weekends are always riddled with shows.

On Friday night we played Cafe Sarajevo. Usually we're three or four at the most...but Boris and I found ourselves to be the only ones available that evening. Oh dear...I thought to myself...it's gonna be a night of Boris on beatbox & cheezy keyboard, and me improvising solos for three whole long sets, for little gratification or money. oh Devla, Devla...where are you now? Thinking about the mysteries of Devla got me to reflecting. How faces have come and gone throughout my summer, and always enjoyable. I feel lucky; One minute I was playing my sister's wedding in the Canadian Rockies...

the next I'm in front of 20 000 people with Amanda Mabro at the Jazz fest...

another day I've got a mediocre violinist in the metro making fun of my violin case; while the evening before Les Gitans de Sarajevo were performing au Théâtre de Verdure; a beautiful outdoor amphitheatre in Parc Lafontaine...

one afternoon we're in Studio Victor A finishing up Amanda Mabro's tracks...

then we're dancing the pre-show ritual before Jeff Kavanda's performance au Festival du Bout du Monde, Gaspé...

and the next day I'm in Cafe Sarajevo: playing in front of mafiosos that look at me as if I'm a whore. Ah well...maybe I am a courvah (whore)-(metaphorically speaking of course lol), if it means making a living at this profession. who knows....

All I know is that I do what I do, and Devla watches quietly. And friday night at Cafe Sarajevo, as I was setting up for a long night, I wondered about Devla and if Devla is with us, if Devla cares about those who are lucky and/or unlucky in life, if Devla breathes into our dreams when we sleep at night, or if Devla watches over our loved ones; ex. my father (recently diagnosed with multiple myeloma)...or if Devla is entertained by the chaos of the world we created...if Devla is busy right now and simply hasn't taken notice of our existence yet. At that very moment I'm tempted to curse and/or hail this existence under my breath, and as if I've stired somethin' in the air, Devla wakes up from the nap: Devla throws the joker dice down and the following happens at Cafe Sarajevo: in walks Sergiu Popa, one of the finest Moldavian Gypsy accordeonists on the earth. He says: "hello! I cannot believe you play alone the two of you!", pulls out the accordeon and bam! we're on fire. As if inspired by this great act of gypsy solidarity, Zohran, a gypsy singer who's been known to make fun of Boris while Boris himself sings, decides to get up and sing along with Boris, as if they were the closest of brothers in the past 10 lifetimes. OPA! Some bellydance comes out of nowhere and suddenly a slow Cafe Sarajevo turns into a over capacity haven full of drunken people from all over.

whoa...Marton doesn't count (image above)!

There you have it...
hvala devla...
please take care of my daddy...

Summer 2008 (part I): Vive le Congo!

2008-08-04T10:07:00.003-04:00

Jeff Kavanda is back in town. Nabat Nabat Montréal! It wasn't enough that he conquered Montreal and its regions last year...with his band of Belgian/Congoleese musicians mixed with a couple of local musicians touring furiously through every "Festival des Rhythmes du Monde de ___________________" (fill in the city), now he's released a new album called "TAM TAM D'EXIL" and he's come back to Quebec to promote it.
I met Jeff through the grapevine. In the beginning of February 2007, word was floating around that a Congolese percussionist/vocalist/dancer from Brussels, Belgium was going to tour Quebec in the summer, and he was looking for a violinist to sub for his violinist (that couldn't get a visa to come to Canada). I had received a phone call from Thomas (Alpha Yaya Diallo's drummer) who insisted that we meet for a coffee and discuss business. Jeff Kavanda flew in to do a colloquium at l'Université de Montréal on music and the exile, we met and played as a duet form - we hit it off and the rest is history! It's rare that I meet a musician who's a talented multi-instrumentalist, an artist and an intellectual as well. Jeff is one of these rare instances, and it's such a pleasure to meet him and learn more about Congolese culture.

This year, Jeff decided to come alone and hire local musicians. The result is Momo Coulibaly on drums, Guy Langué on bass, Thomas Ntale on guitar, Joanne Degand on vocals and me on violin. We played Chicoutimi last friday, of which I spent the 5 hour drive back to Montreal listening to a mix tape of different styles of music and rhythms such as zouk, soukousse, bikutsi, 3 over 4, makossa and much much more. Next week we'll be playing Le Festival au Bout du Monde de Gaspé. Jeff's music mixes the traditional with a variety of influences from everywhere.

Check out his stuff: www.jeffkavanda.be and www.myspace.com/jeffkavanda

Renaud

2008-05-31T17:44:00.003-04:00

So tonight I'm playing with Les Gitans de Sarajevo at Les Bobards, and this is the last gig of a music marathon that began about 10 days ago...

And about two weeks ago, I met violinist from Belgium who was touring throughout Quebec. It was a Sunday night and I had decided to swing by Cafe Sarajevo to jam some Django style swing with Lou and the Manouche Swing guys. I was sitting at the bar, admitting to Lilianka that I had to get some negative energy off my chest...someone had passed it on to me and I just couldn't shake it off. She poured me a drink and tried to reassure me before we started playing. Halfway through the gig, a young man with a violin showed up. Damian, the guitarist, had told me about running into a talented Belgian violinist on the street who was up to any kind of trouble, had said he'd be in town up until the end of the month, and was planning on swinging by. Well here he was, he pulled out his violin, began playing and blew us all out of the water.

His name is Renaud. I was awestruck, inspired, embarrased at my own perceived weakness in the style, yet excited to put aside my ego, to learn by picking his musician's brain. After the jam, Damien, Renaud and I sat around drinking and joking around. At first he seemed less open in person than musically. But after a couple of drinks in him he opened up and we got along. We got along too well. Spiritually and musically, we shared the same philosophy. At first, it's easy for one to say that....and to think that you're experiencing it only uniquely to yourself....but at one point, a situation presents itself, the two of you are tested and BAM! the illusion melts away, you realize that the words you shared don't necessarily line up with the vibe that was between the two of you. But with Renaud, I had the chance to spend some time with him throughout his stay, in different settings as well, and even after dissolving every boundary between us and then rebuilding them as to not lose our sense of decency - I felt we were truly genuine with each other every moment.

In the whirlwind of my music marathon, with the following projects on the go...Luc Boivin et la Nouvelle Symphonie (Shot at Theatre Corona for ARTV's last episode of the 12 part series)...Courtney Wing's show at La Sala Rossa, then his CBC recording at Breakglass Studios...BRIGA, my own personal project, going into the studio to record 5 tracks & playing at the WAWA show (we are women artists) at La Sala Rossa...A show with Amanda Mabro as well at the WAWA event...a NOISE jam @ Le Cagibi called:Les Mardi spaghetti with Nicolas Caloia and Chris Burns...the Les Gitans de Sarajevo gig tonight at les Bobards...

...and Renaud's relentless partying, jams at Casa Obscura, musical escapades with Damien and Francois, adventures with dancers from the production he toured with....it didn't matter:
Renaud never passed judgement, never asked questions, never passed off passive aggressive comments about what I did or who he perceived I was, nor did I think of doing such things to him either. We would just look at each other and smile, letting everything dissolve away into nothingness.
Funny...they say that you just can't have two violinists in one room together, let alone play in the same project together, or simply be interested in hanging out...WHY? their egos will create a black hole in the time space continuum and the gig will collapse due to excessive soloing and showing off. Well, Zoe Dumais (another violinist) and I both enjoyed playing with him, and lovingly nicknamed him "Le Monstre" for his mastering of the violin and the art of improvisation. As he left for the airport, I couldn't help but give him a kiss goodbye and thank him for breathing a breath of fresh air and inspiration in my life, and for giving us all such beautiful, positive energy.

Briga and Amanda Mabro

2008-05-15T08:03:00.003-04:00

These days, I am hesitant to continue writing this blog. Adad tells me it's not something worth doing. I tell myself that it's questionable as to how vulnerable you can allow yourself to be on a public forum. Anyways...I continue to write, although sparcely for the time being. We'll see where it goes...

Drum rolls ppppplllllleeeeeeeaaaaaaaassssssssseeeeeeee!

Ladies and Gentlemen!
On April 19th 2008, my solo project: BRIGA saw the day. We performed at one of Montreal's finest venues: Le Lion D'Or. We're a fiesty little team, with Georgi Stankov at the bass, Marton Maderspach at the drums, Alix Noel at the keys and accordeon, and Tacfarinas Kichou on percussion. What's our sound you may wonder...well here's the official statement:

Building on and going beyond Montreal’s gypsy music heavy hitters Kaba Horo and Les Gitans de Sarajevo, Briga brings eastern European folk violin to the forefront and into a realm of New World Influences. Brigitte Dajczer’s violin and vocals transports us to a colorful, energetic, gripping and sensual world all the while encouraging excellent musicianship and improvisation. Briga brings us through divers musical landscapes such as world/urban/funk/jazz/groove, and songwriting/narrative, and always remaining true to its eastern European roots.

Our next show is at Amanda Mabro's WAWA show (We Are Women Artists) on May 29th, at La Sala Rossa. The lineup is magnificent, with talent such as Empire Isis, Annabelle Chovstek, Amanda Mabro, Miss Sugarpuss and more. Music, Film, and damn brilliant witty repartee will be washing over the audience like cream all over a donut (??)!! Check out the website: www.thewawashow.com

Happy New Year!

2008-01-04T09:58:00.000-05:00

Happy 2008!

As you can see, the new website is up and in construction as we read. This year has in store many great things, such as travel, new projects, new faces, all while keeping the good of the old. Cheers!

Cela Fete: Site under construction

2007-07-10T19:36:00.000-04:00

Hi everybody!

It's been a while since my last posting, and I wanted to apologize to you all and let you know that my new website is currently under construction. Between now and the fall, whenever anyone punches in labrigitte.com, you'll get to see my new web site, and from there you can check the blog posting.

As for what's up in my life, well I'm playing like crazy. Busy and good! Great shows, just check out www.myspace.com/labrigitte to find out where you can see me play.

Have a great summer!

Brigitte

Vladia in Praha, Czech Republic

2007-03-23T23:11:00.000-04:00

I woke up three hours after my sleep, to make it to the Nuremberg station on time, but miss my train because I had to go pee and didn't foresee my bad time management. I caught the next train that unfortunately demanded 4 changeovers before I get to Prague, but figured "how hard can it be?" to hop from one train to another, with only 3 minutes of changeover time between each...
Germany had definitely softened me. The high speed ICE trains, soundless and fast as bullets, they'd always have a display of the next station, along with a beautiful female voice announcing one minute in advance what station would be coming up. When I got to the town of Ceska, I realized I was no longer in Germany.

Reminants of the communist era still linger in the countryside. The train stations in the small villages, some of the rural people that ride the trains, never mind the trains themselves! Dinosaurs made out of strong metal with nicotene stained windows that rattle back and forth on the tracks between small villages, the old trains hope one day to see the urban sprawl of magestic Praha but will never get a chance due to their decrepidness...

Once on the train cart, I was approached by three men dressed in some uniform...a cross between an army uniform and a police uniform. One of them shouted some words at me. Guessing he wanted my boarding pass, I pulled it out. He became angrier and shouted words...eventually I figured he was shouting the same word but in several languages. After the slavic languages and whatever else inaudible muttering, he got to what sounded like german...then italian or spanish and that's when I understood: Passportza!

I pulled out my passport and all three seemed surprised to see it was Canadian. They inspected it for a good 5 minutes, asking questions and debating amoungst themselves before the leader said it was legit, and after that they were the nicest men to me in the world. Thank god I wasn't whatever they thought I was...

As for my stay in Praha, it was wonderful!

Germany

2007-03-20T20:47:00.000-04:00

I arrived from my German tour yesterday. It went very well, and the weather along with it. Let's just say that Europe may be feeling much more the effects of Global warming than we are here at this moment, in Canada.

I started off in Koeln. The show was on March 8th, International Women's Day. It was a quartet, with Albrecht Maurer and I on violin, Christian Eckert on contrebass and Achim Kramer on drums. We played free jazz. And what exactly that was...can be somewhat summed up eloquently by Albrecht Maurer. He described our goal that evening as this: if acknowledging that the genres (or styles of music ie. jazz, classical, world etc) played are like islands in an ocean, then the water in between those islands is a pool of sound that can shift, morph, be under the influence of an island or not...etc. And we were to touch upon these islands, and most importantly...explore the waters in between them.

Needless to say that the evening went very well. There's a review in german at www.suelz-koeln.de

From free jazz, I went to funk. From an art gallery, I went to the closing weekend of a bar 45 mins away from Koeln. The team was a group of young men and I. Michael Flossdorf in keyboards, Jan Wendeler on bass, Andreas Hammer on sax, Steffen Hoff on drums, Lars on guitar & me on violin. Man did these guys know how to groove. We played some Herbie Hancock, Prince and more at the Stellwerk Hoffnungsthal.

I spent a few days off in Koeln with Michael before I hopped into a car with a Turkish German guy by the name of Kiwi (no joke) and zipped off to Fuerth (right next to Nuremberg) to play the Klezmer Festival with Geoff Berner. Kiwi and I had a blast. Turns out his girlfriend lives in Nuremberg, so I got them on the guest list and we played a great show on Friday night. Fuerth is celebrating it's 1000th year anniversary (1007-2007) so they went ahead and celebrated with an extra bang by holding the Fuerth International Klezmer Festival this year (although it is usually a biennial event). The line-up during this weeklong festival is exemplary, from the Klezmatics to Dobranotch, to the Budapest Klezmer Band...they had everything klezmer from all corners of the world! We played at the Kulturforum, had three encores, they brought us whiskey on stage, and it was great to play with Geoff and Wayne again. We stayed up late drinking, and I was sad to part with them at 4 am saturday morning so that I could get three hours of rest before my trip to Praha to visit Vladia...

February 2007

2007-02-26T21:14:00.000-05:00

Where do I start...well, February has been a blast. This month has been contrary to everything I whined about last year. I feel blessed...Cheers to the month of February!
I got my first myspace booking through a couple by the name of Frank and Stephanie, who hold sexy and classy theme parties. Frank contacted me on a Friday night, and Saturday evening I was improvising on top of DJ Luke Native's house tracks. I didn't have a chance to stick it out too long because I was on my way to a house party, but feel free to check out Monde Osé's myspace page: www.myspace.com/mondeose.

The next weekend, I shared the stage with Andrea Revel at the Wawa Show, an event masterminded by cabaret-pop-noir artist Amanda Mabro. It was a great evening, and you can read up more about it @ thewawashow.com.

Next on the agenda was Geoff Berner's sweeping into town. I had the chance to play at Casa Popolo and Wakefield's Blacksheep Inn as well. I met Bob Wiseman officially (after all we met two years ago when I was touring Ontario with both Geoff and Kris Demeanor...but none of us really remembers) and after being in their presence for merely two-three days, I feel inspired to write music and lyrics again. In March, Wayne Adams and I will be supporting Geoff at the Fuerth International Klezmer Festival in Germany. I am absolutely looking forward to playing with them.

While in Germany, I will have the opportunity to collaborate with another great improviser, violinist Albrecht Maurer. After throwing back and forth ideas about what we should do, we concluded the following:
„Die Idee zwei Violinen und eine Rhythmusgruppe zu einem Quartett zusammen zu stellen ist in der Aktuellen Musik nicht häufig anzutreffen. Doch was der Jazzdrummer Joe Baron mit 2 Gitarristen in der Frontline jüngst im Stadtgarten kreierte, überzeugte und insperierte mich spontan zu dieser ähnlichen Besetzung. Mit Brigitte Dajczer treffe ich erstmals eine Kanadische Geigerin, die mit polnischen Roots und einer Menge weltmusikalischen Wissen zusammen mit uns auf Entdeckungsreise geht“. Albrecht Maurer
„I really like the idea of placing two violins on either side of a drummer.
This opens up a space for dialogue between both violins, while the drums can shift to whichever focus/direction that presents itself. Since it is my
first time in Germany, and I am initially being flown out for only one show
(a Klezmer Music Festival in Furth), I'm looking to meet new musicians and hopefully open up the futureto new possibilities.“ Brigitte Dajczer

O.k....there's still more to soliloquy about, but I'll tastefully do that in the next entry.

January 21st, 2007

2007-01-21T21:54:00.000-05:00

So yes, this is the first entry for the year! O.K...it's oddly marked by a way too dramatic picture of yours truly, and may seem a little dull to have been titled the date mentioned above...but let's say all of this is only to grab your attention after my hiatus of over three weeks from blogger land. Besides that, this entry doesn't differ from any other than the fact that it is bitterly cold outside, and we're all in survival mode at this moment. Yes, I have to wear tights underneath my pants and socks, and an extra pair of socks on top of the socks so that I don't feel the cold ground through my cheap Aldo boots of (three years ago) with only 1 centimeter thick rubber soles. But nobody would know anyways, because I take good care of them and I look fashionable. Yesterday, before strutting into Café Noir, I had to choose between my short waistline down coat which was much warmer than my long classic cut wool jacket. (Thank God I had a choice! Last year I didn't.) I went for the down, and my friend Peter kindly reminded me (as I grabbed my coffee) that it would be wise of me to cover my "derrière" as to protect it from the cold. Apparently, your ass and your private organs are as vital as your liver or heart, so keep them as warm as your torso, friends! (deep down, I knew that).

Then there's the instrument issue. After rehearsal this evening, I miscalculated my bus ticket situation and had to walk home with my violin in the cold. Now usually, a 15 min walk is child's play however, I was more worried about the cold's effect on my violin than I was on my legs (the knees were beginning to feel a little bit too stiff for bending). I still haven't opened the case to see if all is o.k.... but I'll trust that it is. So that's it for today, and the sumarry is this: As artists, we're all in survival mode. It's the post-holiday financial slump for everybody. Gigs are at a low, the already tight belt is being tightened a little more and if any of us are smart, we're practicing like fiends, networking on myspace, teaching music, art dance, anything! to pay the bills, going to any show or event we can do some good schmoozing at, and booking shows for the somewhat near future.
P.S. I'm looking forward to turning this entity into a real bonnified web site. So if anybody out there wants to save themselves from reading my blog entries, and charge me as little as possible for their valuable time...please email me. I need to get a real professional web page done...

2006-12-22T14:01:00.000-05:00

Hi!
Salut!

Je vous souhaîtes tous les meilleures vacances du temps des Fêtes, et une bonne nouvelle année qui vous emportera tout ce que vous voulez de la saison 2007!

I wish you all a wonderful holiday season, and I hope the new year will bring you everything that you wish for in 2007!

Peace and love,
Brigitte ;)

Calgary: The City of Winners & Losers

2006-12-20T23:47:00.000-05:00

***Photo courtesy of Contemporary Aboriginal Artist: Terrance Houle (myspace.com/terrancehoule)***

I'm back "home" for Christmas. Yes, I'm in Calgary...the city of only two type of folk: WINNERS and LOSERS. Cowboys and Indians. Do it yourself-ers and lazy ol' bums.

I arrived on Thursday, and immediately filled up that weekend with two Theatre Junction shows hosted by Peter Moller (Calgary) and Dave Clark (Toronto). Sunday evening was the 10th anniversary show of the Rembetika Hipsters. We played the Engineered Air Theatre @ the Epcor Centre for Performing Arts. It was a beautiful evening.

To continue feeling like a WINNER, I am now doing lots of competitive swimming with my Actuarial Analyst sister, Elisabeth Dajczer (B,SC-Math & B.SC-Phys.) and her Masters Club. Just got back from swimming and cannot stop thinking about the workout...

4 x 100 meters freestyle (I wonder if being a winner in Montreal translates itself to naturally being a winner in Calgary)

4 x 75 meters kick (If some creative people in Montreal are dependent on welfare, would they be classified as losers in Calgary, even though they're signed to a record label? What if they're not on welfare, and they're not signed to a label?)

16 x 25 meters IM (Why doesn't anybody in Calgary know who Didier Lockwood is?)

Well, I am enjoying soaking in the winner attitude, and at this very moment...I am seriously considering getting a business degree to give me an edge over my competitors. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Happy Holidays!

Andrea Revel @ The Green Room

2006-12-11T21:05:00.000-05:00

Andrea Revel is hosting her residency tonight. This event happens one Monday a month and features her amazing song writing talents along with special guests from a variety of backgrounds. Last month, I had the chance to accompany her. Here's a couple of pictures from that evening.

This month, she's got Sage Renolds on the bass and Joellen Housego on the violin. Jade will be starting off the evening. I know it's a little late to be annoucing this, but there will be more monday nights in the new year, along with twelve more months. So if your curiosity is peaked, check out Andrea Revel's web site: www.andrearevel.com and her myspace site: www.myspace.com/andrearevel
'

labrigitte on myspace

2006-12-06T17:55:00.000-05:00

Yes, I'm a little late, I know. But better late than never. So check out my new myspace account by clicking on the links!

For those of you who have been wondering what the hell do I sound like, here's your chance to listen to different projects.

For those of you who wonder just how cool I must be...how many friends I must really have now, go ahead and see how much I'd like you to join my friends network. After all, this is only my second day on myspace...

The official page is under: myspace.com/labrigitte

Cheers!

Burghers of Seoul

2006-11-28T22:50:00.000-05:00

Adad Hannah's "Burghers of Seoul" (medium: video) Check out his link.

Does Art imitate Life? Or is it Life that imitates Art? How about Fashion, Music and/or Influential People? Does Music and Fashion reflect our times, or do musicians and fashion designers pick up on some subtle things and just end up creating works that seem to float on the same theme or feel as their peers? Does an influencial person dictate what's hot and what's not...or does an influential person merely sense which way the tide is going and discretely drifts that way?

It's almost the end of November, and not much time is left before I go to Calgary, Alberta to spend the holidays with my family. I'm looking forward to going snowboarding, and playing with musicians I haven't seen in a while! But before I get carried away, here's a quick itinerary of gigs coming up:

-November 30th: Les Gitans de Sarajevo CD release party for the press
-December 2nd: Les Gitans de Sarajevo official CD release party @ Les Bobards
-December 2nd: Chansons d'Amour et de Noel with Raphaelle Paquette, Janusz Wolny and Magdalena Wolny

More later...

Christian music & Dennis Chambers

2006-11-20T19:54:00.000-05:00

On Sunday, November 19th, I recorded Christian music in the morning, then went to see Dennis Chambers hold a workshop in the evening.
That morning, I woke up and warmed up on the violin before heading to Richard's studio to lay down some tracks for a singer by the name of Janis Clarke. Janis is just wrapping up an album of Christian songs that showcases at times choir boys, a priest and/or even herself singing. Richard brought me in to add a touch of Judaism to her mix. I told Janis that she was making quite a controversial decision by bringing me in and letting me lay down tracks of weeping eastern europeean mystery/misery sounds (aluding to Klezmer) on top of teenage choir boys singing Piejesu. All the more, I agreed with her decision...after all - Judaism, Islam and Christianity have one thing in common...and I'll let you guess what that is.

Once the session was done, I hurried on over to Theatre Corona to see the amazing drummer Denis Chambers give a workshop. Being oblivious to my "violin player" demeanor (probrably due to the instrument hanging off of my shoulder), I was teased by the doormen. "Hey! No violins allowed!" and "Hey! You ain't got rhythm - so don't bother" were the cat calls I got. But I couldn't figure out why they were teasing me so extensively, until Michael, Anes and I sat down. Then I realized that almost all 800 of the spectators were rockers, metal heads, progressive rock lovers and downright nerdy drummers! Holy shit! I had just infiltrated the secret masonry of drummers. And on top of that, the only thing on stage was one massive drum kit! Dennis came on stage and blew us away with a one hour drum solo. Although most of the male spectators were cumming in their pants during his amazing drum rolls and double pedaling,

I was turned on when I saw him play 64th notes on the snare for 6 straight minutes, alternating between ppp and fff within a split second without the metric mesurement of the 64th notes wavering one bit, and at the same time switching from traditional snare grip to today's modern ambidextrous grip. All this to subtly change the sound, texture, tone and dynamics of one snare drum. That really impressed my inner violinist nerd.

And the one word of advice that I retained from Denis and that I will use in my own personal practice: When asked how to develop speed and power, he replied "Practice on pillows".

Alix Noel; Concert du musique classique Haitienne

2006-11-07T13:29:00.000-05:00

CONCERT D’AUTOMNE

La SDRMH (Société de Recherche et Diffusion de Musique
Classique Haitienne) vous invite à son concert
d'automne.

Cette année : le pianiste multidisciplinaire ALIX NOEL

et ses invités (Marie Saintonge, Brigitte Dajczer,
Geo Etienne, Clinton Ryder, Marie Fouda et Moise),

le 11 novembre 2006, à 19h, à la
salle Marie-Stéphane de l'Académie Vincent d'Indy. Un
concert original aux rythmes variés. A ne pas manquer.

Cout : 25$
Réservations : 450-677-8418
Lieu : 628 Chemin de la Cote Ste-Catherine (métro Édouard Montpetit)

November 5th, a great night!

2006-11-07T13:05:00.000-05:00

I finally have a picture of the sweet people I have been talking about! Here, from left to right is me, Janusz Wolny, Magdalena Wolny, and Yoland Sirard. This photo was taken minutes before we performed at La Vielle France on Sunday night. And what a divine experience it was! Yoland and Janusz's voices blended like rose water and honey (uh...I don't know how else to say it). Magdalena's virtuous piano solos warmed up the room even more than the blasting heaters @ 25 degrees celcius. I could feel the warmth from the audience as I played, and they responded ferverently to all the pieces we played. I feel so lucky to have met, worked with and gotten to know such kind and great musicians. Thanks guys ;)

Classical & Broadway does La Vielle France

2006-10-31T18:00:00.000-05:00

Allen Baekeland (from the Rembetika Hipsters) and I discovered his funky photo software on his laptop.
NOpe, this isn't about pop art and/or Andy Warhol's mass production of pop culture's icons, nor does the title alude to anything like "Debbie does Dallas" or "Rocko does Prague". (Jeez, what's up with my sense of humour today...)
This is more about pop classics, Broadway hits thus segwaying into my next show at La Vielle France on November 5th. The lineup includes tenor Yoland Sirois, baritone Janusz Wolny, Pianist Magdalena Wolny and the now ever so famous violinist, Brigitte Dajczer.

Some of you may shake your heads at the thought of me shifting away from Eastern European music and playing more North American romantic stuff, but I think it's about time I do so. As one of my violin coaches, Stephane Allard, put it: "You've got to venture into many styles, not just one and its subgenres". O.K. so I'm paraphrasing, this is so not, like, verbatum or anything. Hmmmmmmmmm, come to think of it...maybe he never said anything like that at all. Who knows...but sounds like a good quote to me, no matter where it came from.

Not to worry, I will be throwing a couple solos true to what you know me as: One Csardas, One Gypsy Romance by Boulanger, and a tune that I will never grow tired of (only because I never had the chance to overplay it): Meditations from Thais, J.Massenet.

Capitol Theatre in Moncton, New Brunswick

2006-10-21T17:06:00.000-04:00

Last night we played the Capitol Theatre in Moncton, New Brunswick. Upon entering the theatre for sound check, I was star struck. What a beautiful space! It was built circa 1922 as a movie house, and seats approximately 850 people. A fire in 1926 destroyed the theatre, and it was rebuilt in 1929.

The acoustics were remarkably good so they also produced live theatre shows there. In 1990, the city of Moncton bought it and renovated it. All sorts of shows have come and gone, from Opera to Vaudeville, to today’s never ending flow of artists. The green room walls are riddled with photos of stars that have passed through.

We were honoured to be part of this stage, a stage that has graced Mr.Dress Up, Holly Cole, Nathalie McMaster, to the Unknown comic as well! Our crowd was small but ever so mighty. The tech support was warm and friendly, and by the end of the evening we had unplugged ourselves and were wandering around the theatre serenading our audience, the ushers and the technicians. People were dancing in the aisles, we sounded as good unplugged as on stage, and the evening was a divine experience for all.

Here I am with our Road Manager (road mistress according to bouzouki player Nick Diochnos), Diana Watamaniuk. Please note that it was Nick’s brilliant idea to superimpose faces (look up to the first image) onto the Marquee!

(Guest blogging from Methodius Valtiotis: Salut, tout le monde qui lisent la blague de labrigitte! Brigitte’s solo during Melina’s Bath Part Two was a jaw-dropping mofo. That is all.)

Rembetika Hipsters @ Halifax Pop Explosion

2006-10-20T16:57:00.000-04:00

Beginning of the evening...

O.K….I’m in the rental van with The Rembetika Hipsters. We’re on our way to Moncton, New Brunswick after having played a rippin’ and roarrin’ night at The Sea Horse Tavern as part of the Halifax Pop Explosion. I’m not sure how “pop”-ish Greek Rembetika music is (also known as the Greek blues) but hey, we got the crowd dancing on the floor and on the tables, as well as slobbering drunk and dancing all over each other. Victor, the owner of this fine establishment was buying us drinks by the end of the night in a vain attempt to not let us stop playing. Mission Accomplished!

The Halifax Pop Explosion, one of Canada’s most respected emerging music, art and media festival, is now in its 14th year. Besides bringing out the Rembetika Hipsters, Jazz East is also presenting Juan de Marcos’ Afro Cuban All Starts. Mix in pop explosion acts like Hotchiwitchi (Halifax), Joel Plasket, K-OS (Toronto), and many more artists, you’ve got yourself a flavour sensation weekend.

It’s my first time in Halifax, and I must say that I’m touched by the warm reception we’ve received, the fresh and positive energy exuding from its inhabitants, as well as their reckless abandon in the art of partying. Rock on my friends. I’ll be back on Saturday night to play with the infamous Whiskey Rabbi and his band, Geoff Berner.

October News

2006-10-11T16:45:00.000-04:00

Up to now, October has been a wholwind of events! Lots of gigs and lots of news as well.

First off, our trumpet player (and all round multi-instrumentalist) Miron Rafajlovic (aka Mima) was in town and played with us in Chicoutimi, and has created a new myspace account for Les Gitans de Sarajevo @ myspace.com/lesgitansdesarajevo (Check to the right and click on Les Gitans de Sarajevo!). Mima also found out that he'll be part of a whole new musical journey that involves touring and playing many instruments. Congratulations Mima! We are proud of you ;)

Secondly, I will be replacing my violin mentor, Carmen Piculeata, this friday October 13th at a benefit concert for La Fondation Humanitaire de Laval, which will take place in the concert hall André-Mathieu (La Maison des Arts de Laval). I have the honor of playing with the virtuoso pianist Magdalena Wolny, baritone singer Janusz Wolny and coloratura soprano Raphaelle Paquette.This is bound to be an exciting evening...with a repertoire of 24 songs, 3 violin solo pieces and 10 days for me to learn this all new repertoire.

O.k...that's it for now...more later!

Romani Yag Benefit Show

2006-09-30T08:47:00.000-04:00

Here we are, at last year's Romani Yag Festival...

This Tuesday, October 3rd, there will be a benefit show at Le Divan Orange (www.ledivanorange.org) for the Romani Yag Gypsy Festival. This festival is the first event of its kind in Quebec. “Romani Yag,” or “Gypsy Fire,” is a unique chance to discover Romani (Gypsy) culture.

There will be three groups playing:
-Caravan
-Les Imposteurs
-Les Gitans de Sarajevo

This fundraiser is to help secure the second edition of the Romani Yag Gypsy Festival
in the Fall of 2007, and a special Romani Yag event in May 2007. Show starts at 8pm. Check out the web site for more information: www.romaniyag.com